Review of Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life

I have mentioned quite a bit on Tidbits From A Mom about my intense desire to have an organized household. I was on a mission this summer to organize my home and I am proud to say that we are doing pretty well. I really want to maintain this though after I go back to work next week. Will it be possible? Or will I start to lose ground again?...I guess we will just have to wait and see :)

I was very excited to be given the opportunity to review Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life by Stephanie O’Dea. Stephanie O’Dea provides wonderful advice for families on how to declutter the home and maintain the cleanliness. After this summer of decluttering, my home looks great, but I want to keep it up without spending a ton of time cleaning each day. I just don’t have the time.

Stephanie O’Dea discusses the Daily 7 for a Highly Successful Household, which are seven chores that can be done daily in a minimal amount of time. The Daily 7 include the following:
• Make Beds Right Away
• Do One Complete Load of Laundry
• Empty All Garbage Cans
• Keep Your Kitchen Sink Empty
• Clean Up After Yourself and Help Your Children Do the Same
• Bathroom Wipe-Down
• Before Bed 10-Minute Clean-Up

I am pleased to say that I am doing fairly well with these. I do all of these chores everyday with the exception of #3 and #6. However, I need to tweak #7 a bit. Instead of cleaning for 10 minutes before bed, I clean up constantly. My husband tells me to sit down and relax constantly, but I’m not able to do this. My OCD kicks in and I immediately start cleaning. I should take Stephanie’s advice and wait to clean prior to bed and just enjoy being with my family.

Totally Together discusses so many tips for the family, including holding family meetings, planning meals and using a slow cooker, and taking time for yourself each day to help relieve stress and maintain your sanity. I have to admit these are things that I am not doing well. I look forward to using the journal for each of these tasks!

In addition to the advice provided, Totally Together includes a journal where you can keep track of doing the Daily 7 and weekly chores. In addition, there are also suggestions for chores that are specific in maintaining organization and cleanliness that do not have to be done very often. For example, “Purchase all birthday/anniversary cards and gifts for the next six months”. This really is one of my favorite features of the journal because everything is laid out for me and I don’t have to think about it! Lastly, the journal also contains tips for you for decluttering, recipes, and crafts!

After reading Totally Together, I know now where my strengths and weaknesses are in relation to organization and cleaning. At this point, I’m optimistic that I can maintain all the work I have done this summer. In order to remain optimistic, I know that I also need to make my daughter more accountable for her chores. Instead of automatically picking everything up after her, I need to make sure she is participating. Fingers crossed that we can keep it up….

*Disclaimer: I did not receive monetary compensation for this post. I received a free copy of this book for the purposes of this review. The opinions expressed here are my own.